January 26, 2012

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The Man Who Brought us ‘Star Wars’

by Jonn Holland

I originally posted this on my Tumblr Blog, but thought it might help to post it here. If you read it and like it please share it. Heck, share it even if you don’t like it. I wrote this because it seems to me that some fans of the Star Wars franchise–which in my opinion has defined an entire generation and their children–need to be reminded of just what George Lucas did. Who knows, some film industry folk may even read this and go: “Oh yeah, he did do those things.” So here it is below. Enjoy!

A Few Words About George Lucas

After reading an article on The Hollywood Reporter website in which George Lucas says, ““I’m retiring. I’m moving away from the business, from the company, from all this kind of stuff.” (The Hollywood Reporter Erin Carlson, 1/18/2012) I became dismayed that a man who has greatly contributed to the film industry as it is today would feel the need to stop. Further disappointment set in as the reported reason for this decision is the constant negativity and outrage from fanboys and girls aimed at him for making changes to HIS films that are blasphemous in their eyes. I’ve added the link to the article for those who wish to read it: “Star Wars” Creator George Lucas Fires Back at Fanboys’, “Red Tails” Snub.

The idea that individuals who are fans of one of the greatest sci-fi franchises in the last thirty-five years would be so willing to be hateful towards the creator of that franchise is mind boggling. Are these “fans” so wrapped up in their own narcissism that they can’t see the value in what George Lucas has done by adding to the Star Wars films and making the Star Wars prequels? Are they really that upset because he wanted to make the films what they were originally intended to be? That’s like getting mad at Domino’s Pizza for improving their pizza or Infinity Ward for making yet another multi-player map pack to Modern Warfare 3.

The point is that George Lucas made those changes and added scenes because he wanted the fans to get the full product not just an incredibly close representation of it. Consider also that he mad the films despite not having the technology he needed to make them the way he had originally intended and the result was mind blowing. Not only did Star Wars define the “blockbuster film”, but George Lucas and those who were on his visual effects staff had to invent methods for achieving certain effects. Thus, ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) was born.

Today, ILM has helped to create the visual effects in numerous science fiction films and continues to be innovative in that respect. Some of the films that ILM has worked on includes: Avatar, The Abyss, Back To The Future Trilogy, Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and the Harry Potter movies. For the entire list, go to http://www.ilm.com/ If it hadn’t been for George Lucas and his desire to create spectacular visual effects and do it in ways that others weren’t at the time, Industrial Light and Magic may never have existed.

Besides ILM Lucas created THX and Skywalker sound simply because he wanted the audience to experience the best in sound quality while watching his movies. If you remember, THX sound became the standard in theater audio and still is to this day. Is it any stretch of the imagination to think that by creating THX George Lucas paved the way for Digital Surround and IMAX?

The long and short of it is that George Lucas is an innovator. He invented Star Wars, thought up Indiana Jones, was brave enough to change the way special effects were created—also put the credits at the end of the movie instead of the beginning—and made it possible for the audience to “feel” like they were in the middle of the action because they could hear every blaster sound, x-wing engine, light saber ignition and explosion in clear pristine audio. Best of all, George Lucas inspired an entire generation of filmmakers, video game developers and novelists.

His Star Wars franchise is one of the largest in the world and we have enjoyed the Star Wars universe at the movie theater, in the books we’ve read and the video games we’ve played and do we show him the respect and admiration he deserves? Well, there are millions of us who do, but it seems that some “fans” are hell bent on ruining it for us and the man who invented the franchise these fanboys love so much.

To the fanboys: Give respect where respect is due and leave your negativity and narcissism to yourselves.

To George Lucas: I would sure hate to see you retire under these circumstances and I am sure there are millions of fans and many filmmakers who share that sentiment.